Moon.
Demographic	Seinen
Genre	Drama, Harem, Romance
Game
Developer	Tactics
Publisher	Tactics (Original PC) Nexton (PC full-voice)
Genre	Eroge, Visual novel
Rating	18+ (PC versions)
Platform	PC, DVD TV game
Released	November 21 1997 (Original PC) August 21 1998 (Moon.Renewal) September 14 2000 (Re-release) July 122002 (Full-voice DVD) September 20 2002 (limited ed. CD) January 30 2003 (DVDPG)
Novel
Author	Midori Tateyama
Publisher	Movic
Published	July 31 1998
Volumes	1

Moon. is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Tactics, a brand of the joint company Nexton, and first released on November 21 1997 playable on the PC as a CD-ROM. Much of the staff that created the game later became the founding members of the visual novel company Key, so this game is often considered roughly equal to or like one of Key's works. Moon. was the starting point for Key's origins and was the first time the principal Key team was formed. Unlike most H games, the protagonist of Moon. is female. A novel based on the game written by Midori Tateyama was released on July 31 1998 by Movic.

Visual novel

Development

Planning for Moon. was headed by Jun Maeda, who also worked on the game's scenario with fellow writer Naoki Hisaya. Art direction was led by Itaru Hinoue. Miracle ☆ Mikipon, and Shinory supplemented the computer graphics. The music was composed by Shinji Orito and YET11.

Gameplay

The gameplay requires relatively little player interaction as most of the game is composed of text dialogues. The original release contained no voice acting for the characters, but full-voice acting was included for the later version for the PC. An important aspect of Moon. (as in every other visual novel) are the "decision points" which appear every so often. The game pauses at such moments and offers a limited number of options that develop the plot toward a specific scenario. There are three main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. Each plot line can be achieved through multiple replays.

In the original game, after the game was completed at least once, a bonus Role-playing game became available on the title screen. This was later removed from the full-voice DVD edition of the game.

Release history

Moon. was first released on November 21 1997 playable on the PC as a CD-ROM. The next release, entitled Moon.Renewal on August 21 1998 was the same game, but with added support for new operating systems. On September 14 2000, Memorial Selection Moon. went on sale, known later as the popular edition. On July 12 2002 a full-voice DVD edition entiled Moon.DVD: Final Version was released. Another CD-ROM version of the game entitled Moon.Limited was released on September 20 2002. The final release entitled Moon.DVDPG Edition went on sale in Japan on January 30 2003; DVDPG stands for DVD PlayersGame.

Plot

Characters

Main characters

Ikumi Amasawa (天沢郁未, Amasawa Ikumi^?)

Ikumi is the main protagonist in the story. After the death of her mother Miyoko, Ikumi joins an organization named FARGO to discover how and why her mother died. Voiced by: Ruru

Haruka Mima (巳間晴香, Mima Haruka^?)

Haruka meets Ikumi in FARGO and she explains that she's here to save her older brother. She starts to work with Ikumi for their mutual goals. Voiced by: Aya

Yui Nakura (名倉由依, Nakura Yui^?)

Yui is searching for her older sister Yuri who joined FARGO. Yui has an optimistic personality which hides a gloomy past of which she has no memory of. Voiced by: Miya Serizono

Secondary characters

Miyoko Amasawa (天沢未夜子, Amasawa Miyoko^?)

Miyako is Ikumi's mother. She was known for her cream stew before she mysteriously died. She was a member of FARGO.

Yuri Nakura (名倉友里, Nakura Yuri^?)

Yuri is Yui's older sister who joined FARGO in order to obtain the power of invisibility. Voiced by: Komugi Nishida

Yōko Kanume (鹿沼葉子, Kanume Yōko^?)

Yōko is a modest believer in FARGO's cause. Something happened in her past related to her mother. She is one of the main antagonists. Voiced by: Satomi Kodama

Shōnen (少年, Shōnen^? lit. Boy or Young man)

"Shōnen" is a boy living with Ikumi at FARGO. He helps Ikumi in her search for the answers regarding her mother. It is never revealed what his true name is. Voiced by: Arashi Tsunami

Takatsuki (高槻, Takatsuki^?)

Takatsuki is a man in FARGO with an arrogant attitude. Voiced by: Matsuri Yūatono

Tsuki (月, Tsuki^? lit. Moon)

Moon. novel.

Tsuki is the symbol of FARGO and the mastermind behind the entire operation. He is the main antagonist.

Story

The story follows a young girl named Ikumi Amasawa who follows the recent death of her mother to an organization known as FARGO. Ikumi joins FARGO and uncovers their disturbing nature of harnessing psychic abilities through torture.

Publications

A novel based on the game written by Midori Tateyama was released on July 31 1998 by Movic (ISBN 4-89601-387-5). The novel retailed for 857 yen (~US$6.97), before tax.^[1] On October 31 1999, an original art book was released (ISBN 4-87763-014-7).

Reception

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the Moon.DVD PC release made the ranking of the top fifty game once at number forty-four during the first two weeks of July 2002.^[2] Moon.Limited also made it on the list only once, achieving the ranking of forty-eight in late September 2002.^[3] There is a reference to Moon. in the sixth episode of the Kyoto Animation version of Kanon which can be seen as the movie poster of a horror film that Ayu and Yuichi go to see.

References

External links

• Nextons' official Moon. website (Japanese)
• Tactics' official Moon. website (Japanese)

Key
Visual novels	Kanon | Air | Clannad | Planetarian | Tomoyo After | Little Busters!
Pre-Key games	Dōsei | Moon. | One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e
Animation	One OVA episodes | Kanon anime episodes | Air anime episodes | Air movie | Clannad anime episodes | Clannad movie
Characters	Kanon characters | Air characters | Clannad characters
Soundtracks	Kanon | Air | Clannad | Planetarian | Tomoyo After | Little Busters!
Key Sounds Label	Humanity... | Birthday Song,Requiem | Spica/Hanabi/Moon | Ma-Na | Love Song | OTSU Club Music Compilation Vol.1

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